France
by Queen of Pascalities
Summary: Dear Diary, I am officially second personal assistant to the Japanese ambassador in France and tomorrow, I am moving to Paris. Alone and underage. Haruno Sakura signing out. SasuSaku. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **__Yay, another story! This one is really different from my first one, A Walk to Remember, and I hope you'll like it. There will be some French in it, and I'm not just talking about the language. If you have any problems understanding what the french characters say, just ask me about it, it will be my pleasure to explain. Notice that I'm from Québec, and not from France, so I might use both kinds of french. _

_Enjoy!_

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**France**

"**It is truly weird how some people get used to change, when the real whole point of change is to get rid of the usual. If you manage to get used to it, it means you **_**really**_** need to change. Some people only change a little part of their lives, like walking to work every morning instead of driving, or buying blue Egyptian cotton sheets to replace their white flannel ones."**

"**That's what is wrong. When I say change, I **_**mean**_** change. Like buy a camper and go on a road trip, get a new look that's totally different from the one before, go back to school, go to parties, buy a pet, changes countries-" **

"Sakura-chan, get down here, supper's ready!"

Sakura emitted a low growl and rolled her eyes. Every time she started to rant about something in her diary, her mum would come down the ladder that connected her room to the rest of the house and tell her to do something. Okay, eating wasn't that bad, but she knew her mum would ask her to wash the dishes and would not let her go until everything was clean, dry and back on its shelf.

It was hard to keep the entries of her online diary up to date with her mother around. Oh how she wished her mum started dating someone again. Since her father's death, she had rejected several date propositions from men. In fact, all of them. Let's face it, she had closed herself up from the whole male population in Japan, and probably on the planet.

So now, she was devoting her whole life and love to her one and only daughter, Sakura. The poor girl had had to endure her mum's never ending rants about her clothes (which were usually jeans, T-shirts with band names and Converse shoes), her make-up (almost nothing, maybe black eyeliner when she felt bold), her nail polish (Sakura never understood what was wrong with black nail polish), and various other stuff that mothers always complain about.

Sakura had been seriously thinking about hooking her mum up with one of her teachers, especially her French teacher, but it would have been rather weird to have her step-father try to explain to her the difference between "oui", which is French, and "we", which is English. She therefore abandoned the idea and created her online diary, where she could talk and talk about everything her mum and herself could never talk about.

Sakura saved her new entry, turned off her laptop and climbed down her ladder. The sweet smell of sautéed onions and red peppers came to her nostrils, along with the slightly salty scent of roast beef and the almost unnoticeable odour of mashed potatoes. She had always possessed a fine nose and a strong smelling sense, and could always tell what they were going to eat by just sniffling the air.

When she was little, it was her favourite game with her father. He was the one who gave her the smelling gene, and every night, they would try to discover what her mum was preparing. He always won, knowing every dish name, except for macaroni and cheese, since he was the one cooking it. It was her favourite meal above all, and she was still trying to reproduce it exactly like the one her father used to make.

She sat down at the table, where the onions, peppers and potatoes were already fuming from their bowls. Then, her mum arrived with the beef and put it on the table. She started cutting the meat and serving it in their plates. She had a nervous look on her face, and seemed to have a hard time focussing on what she was doing.

Her movements were mechanical, unsteady, almost difficult. Finally, after spilling half of the sauce on the floor and almost cutting through Sakura's hand, who was innocently trying to help her mum to calm down, she sat down and started eating. She was only taking small bites, which clearly showed she was nervous about something.

"Er, kaa-san? Are you alright? Do you have something to tell me?" Sakura asked carefully. Her mum jumped a little and wiped her mouth with her napkin.

"Well, Sakura-chan, n-now that… you mention it, I d-do have something to-… to t-tell you." Whoa. She stuttered. Bad omen, really bad omen.

"You see, I… have found you… a job," she declared. Sakura didn't really understand what she was so nervous about.

"Really? That's it? But that's great, kaa-san! What is it, where is it, how much does it pay and when do I start?"

"Erm, well, it pays you 20 dollars an hour," she started as Sakura's eyes widened. "and you start tomorrow."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. Her mum had found a job that paid 20 dollars an hour and was offering it to her. While the wild side of her mind danced around with joy, screaming at how good of an entry for her diary that would be, her rational side got suspicious and urged her to learn more about the whole offering thing.

"Er, Mum? Why don't you keep it? If it's such a good job, you could enjoy it and gain more money than you currently do!"

"Well, actually, I couldn't take it," her mother replied.

"Why?"

"Because it's in France," she admitted bluntly.

"WHAT!?"

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"…**change countries, unless you are underage and not ready to move out. If this is the case, do everything in your power to stay where you are and not become like me. Dear Diary, I am officially second personal assistant to the Japanese ambassador**** in France and tomorrow, I am moving out to Paris. Alone and underage. Haruno Sakura signing out."**

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_**A/N: **__Well, here it is. First chapter of my new story. I know that writing three stories at the same time is almost suicide, but I'm sure I can handle it. I'm __**not**__ putting A Walk to Remember on hold, nor am I discontinuing it. Of course, it will take more time to update everything, but I __**will**__ finish all of them. I promise._


	2. Welcome to France

_**A/N: **__I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING ANY FASTER! School started and I have LOADS of homework! I haven't been really inspired lately, either, but it's coming back to me. I can feel it! SO, I'll try to make updates on all my stories on an every week basis, but I can't promise anything._

_**ALSO! **__I totally forgot my disclaimer for my fanfics, so here it is: I don't own Naruto, nor any other artist, brand, manga or anime that might be named in my texts. _

_With that, enjoy!_

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"**It's funny how misery can happen to anybody, but always does to people who don't deserve it. I swear, karma has nothing to do with this! The most unfortunate thing about it is that it can show itself in the form of an exciting adventure, like travelling to France to go meet the most notorious person in Japan, but always makes you regret your choice to accept.**"

"**If you are too much of a nice person, misery could strike anytime! Be vigilant! Do not accept any challenge before you've done something bad. I swear, if the only way for me to get out of this is to punch the air-hostess, I'll do it! Nothing else can get you out of this mess-…"**

"Miss? We'll be launching now, you'll need to close that computer until we are fully in the air."

The (goddamned) air-hostess, who was emitting a very strong and unpleasant smell of coconut and mint, was smiling down at Sakura with her (huge) slightly yellow teeth. Her nose scrunched at the air-hostess's perfume, Sakura faked a smile, nodded, saved her work and closed the la

She zipped her sweater up, for the air conditioning system was making the plane feel like an iceberg in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, and looked out her window. She tried to keep an image of the Tokyo airport, which would probably be her last Japanese sight for a long time.

The plane started moving. The airport slid out of her sight and the background became blurry. Sakura turned her head back straight in front of her, took in a deep breath of the old plastic smelling air-conditioned cabin and closed her eyes as she felt the plane leave the ground. A tear swiftly formed in her left eye, then dropped down her cheek.

The old lady sitting next to her noticed it and patted her hand. She addressed Sakura a comforting smile. Sakura returned it, glad that someone understood her. That woman was probably leaving the country almost against her will, just like Sakura. She was probably also trying to find someone to share her sorrow with, feeling bad for leaving this wonderful-…

"Don't worry, the plane won't crash down."

Sakura's face froze, then blanked. **Oh**. _That_ was why the old lady was trying to comfort her. She thought Sakura was worried about the plane crashing down.

Right.

So now, there was the "country-leaving" part, "the new country" part _and_ the "plane crashing" part. Great! Anything to make her feel better, thanks, old lady! Sakura stiffly nodded and turned her head back towards the window. Her heart sank and a sharp pain pierced her left side.

Everything was so small! And it was shrinking, too! If the plane were to crash, it would be a looooooooong way down before they hit the ground for sure! The pain on her left side got worse by the minute. It always hurt her when she was stressed out. That's what the doctor had said. Because of the shock, every time her mind was disturbed, she would feel pain. Awful pain it was, actually.

Sakura softly rubbed her side and tried to calm herself down. She listened to the annoying air hostess as she was explaining the safety measures in case of a crash. Of course, it didn't help, especially because the Britney Spears wannabe had decided to talk painfully slowly. Honestly, the plane could have crashed at least seven times and a half before the end of her speech.

She then informed the passengers that they could now use their laptops, mp3 players and other electronic stuff (she finished the announcement with a very lame joke in which she called a Blackberry a blueberry) and went back into the air hostesses' quarters. Sakura took out her mp3 player and turned it on. Home Made Kazoku, Shounen Heart. One of the greatest songs ever, in her opinion. She closed her eyes and leaned further back in her seat.

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_She had been wearing a white dress that her mum had made for her. It was her favourite. But they had torn it off her body, replacing it by a pale grayish-green rigid nightgown. She wouldn't have let them take it away if her mum hadn't told her to stay calm and let them do their job. They had also taken the white ribbon __**he**__ had given her for her birthday._

_They had put her on a steel table, forced something that produced air in her nose and inserted a needle into her arm. They were pressing a small towel on her left side, trying to get the blood to stop flowing out of her body._

_Later on, they told her that she had needed twenty-one stitches, but that the wound wasn't deadly, so she would be fine. Her mum was by her side. She heard her sigh in relief, then felt her hand remove some strands of her pink hair off her face._

"_Don't worry, Sakura-chan I won't ever let you wander around in dangerous situations again," her mum had whispered into her ear. "You will never see that boy and his dog again. You'll be safer that way."_

_Sakura hadn't had the strength to protest, but her mind was on fire. How could her mum forbid her to see her best and only friend!? Just because of a stupid accident. It wasn't __**his**__ fault if his dog had jumped on her out of happiness but had missed its target._

_She had waited until her mum was gone for the night before letting herself cry. Her eyes had welled up as soon as the door closed and tears had started flowing down the sides of her face and into her ears. She had been staring at the ceiling for about half an hour when a sharp pain on her side had struck her._

_She had rolled on her left side, holding her stomach. She had felt the bandages around her waist. She knew they went on down her hips and a little bit on her left thigh. She had wanted to take them off, to prove to her mother that she was fine and that she wasn't scared of facing the dog again. When she had finally fell asleep, tears were still flowing out her eyes, but they were tears of anger that had been directed to her mother._

_The next day, her mum had come to take her home. Sakura didn't want to leave, but she was still weak and she couldn't do anything against her mother. The doctor had told them about the shock, the consequences and the effects it would have on her future. Her mum had been worried about her health, but he had assured her that it would only sting if she was under a lot of stress. _

_Two days later, her mum had told her that her best friend was moving away with his family. Sakura had ran over to his house to ask him why and to beg him not to leave, but she had been too late. Her mum had waited too long before telling her, as if she had done it on purpose. _

_Sakura only had time to see the car driving out. She had screamed his name, hoping he would hear her. He did. He had opened the window and had looked at her with wide eyes. He asked the driver to stop the car. He had opened the door and had jumped down. She had run to him and had jumped in his arms, hugging him with all the strength she could muster._

"_Don't leave. Please, don't leave," she had told him as he had put his arms around her. He hadn't said anything. He just stood there, holding as if their lives depended on it. He had inhaled the scent of her hair, had given her a kiss on the cheek and had left her. _

_He had climbed back in the car. The car had driven off. She had seen his face one last time, as he had looked at her from the back window. She had seen his big brother do the same thing, then hug his little brother to comfort him. She had fallen to her knees, her face in her hands, clutching her side that had started hurting as if the gash was new._

_She didn't go home. She had run into the boy's house and into what used to be his room. She had expected to find the blue walls, the dark brown blinds on the window and the dark brown wooden floor. What she hadn't expected was to find all his furniture._

_His bed, his covers, his desk, his armoire, everything had been standing as if he was just gone on vacation. When she had searched around, though, she had found out that the picture of them with his dog and brother was gone. Her pain had eased a little bit, knowing he would remember even when gone._

_She had slept in his bed. It still smelt of him. She had snuggled in his pillow and curled into a ball under his covers. Her tears had fallen again. She had cried herself to sleep, hoping she would see him again._

_The next day, her father had died._

_She never remembered the boy's name, nor his face._

_----------------------_

Sakura woke up from a rough shake on her shoulder. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see her mum, who had climbed up to her room to tell her she was late for school. She nearly screamed when she recognised the yellow teeth and the coconut-mint smell.

"We'll be landing soon, would you turn off your mp3 player, please?" The air hostess asked with a very, _very_ fake smile.

Sakura turned it off, put it in her bag and looked out the window. She gasped. There it was! The big metal tower that looked as if it was unfinished! The… The… Oh, what was the name again? The… EIFFEL TOWER!

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She walked through the door, entering the airport. She looked around, confused. She had taken two steps into Charles-de-Gaulle and she was already lost! She followed the rest of the passengers to the luggage registration and the baggage carousel. She picked up her two hugely enormous black and red suitcases and turned to the (apparently French) people obviously waiting for the passengers they had to escort.

There were three men that looked Mexican, a black-skinned lady, a tall man with a little girl in his arms and a young man wearing a suit who was surrounded by two very tall, very buffed out, very intimidating men.

One by one, they all left, except for the guy in the suit and who seemed to be his bodyguards. Sakura and the young man's eyes met and locked to each other. They stood there, staring at each other, for about five minutes before he stepped closer to her and held out his right hand.

"Uchiha Sasuke, first personal assistant to the Japanese ambassador in France. I'll be your escort to the Embassy," he informed her as she took his hand and shook it. He then turned to the bodyguards. "These two are Jeff and Malcolm, they will be our bodyguards for the day. Let them take care of your luggage, they'll bring it to the car. Follow me."

Wow, straight to the point. This sounded like a very… Uninterested guy. She shot a glance at the men that took her luggage as if it were empty pillow cases and followed the guy through the airport and in a car that was waiting for them.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat. That guy was somehow more intimidating than the two bodyguards. He was just staring out the window, his chin in his palm. Sakura studied him for a bit.

He had black spiky hair, black eyes (as she had found out in the airport) and was quite muscular. Of course, he looked like a midget next to the very buffed out men, but certainly wasn't a small weakling when bodyguard less. His skin was pale and almost flawless. He would have been handsome if his facial features hadn't displayed an indifferent and slightly frowning stare.

Caught up in her observations, she didn't notice his head had turned towards her. His gaze met hers, cold but calm, almost the "tell-me-why-you're-staring-at-my-face-and-I-won't-harm-you" kind of look. He eyed her, as her eyes were still fixed upon his face.

"Stop staring. You look as if you've never seen a man before," he finally said, annoyed.

Sakura jumped, startled, then her eyes went wide and she opened her mouth like a fish out of water. So he had noticed her (no duh, she'd been almost ogling him for ten minutes). Quick, she had to find something to get her out of the awkward situation before her if she wanted to be considered as a serious and responsible underage girl.

Her brains set to work, causing a slight headache to appear in her forehead region. Which meant it spread veeeeery wide. Her mind was working hard to find a good come-back, one that was subtle, sophisticated but still ego-deflating.

"_Think, Haruno, think! It's not that hard to find something to say to a guy to kill his self-confidence! Oh! I got it! Wait, is it good enough? Nah, not really. Oh, nevermind, we don't have time!_"

"Well, it is not a man I am seeing now." Oh wow. Great. That was very smooth. Subtle, sophisticated, may we add slightly sly and yet very ego-deflating. Just the right thing to say to prove she's a serious and responsible underage girl.

**Not.**

Well, except for the ego-deflating part. It did work, as showed from his deepened frown and his newly arrived frustrated glint in his eyes. Her turned his head back towards the window of the car and put in chin back into his hand. Although he didn't want to seem like it, he was sulking. She could tell.

And was that a pout she could see?

She smirked to herself and leaned back into her seat. At least now, she knew that this Uchiha Sasuke wasn't very old and didn't like to be reminded of it. Almost like a child that wants to prove he's brave. Oddly, it felt quite familiar to her. So familiar that her side stung once more.

The car took a turn and Sasuke straightened up. When it stopped, he opened the door, let the bodyguards climb out, followed them and offered a hand to Sakura. She took it and slid out of the car. Well, at least now he was showing a little bit of manliness and gallantry.

She looked up. Her eyes widened. Before her was a very hugely enormously gigantic white building that seemed to have at least five stories and something like ten windows per story. Oh, and the windows were probably as big as a wall in her room back in Japan.

"Ahem."

Sasuke's throat sound seemed to bring her back to reality and she turned her head towards him. The two bodyguards had already taken her luggage out of the car and were walking towards the house. Sasuke was looking at her, slightly amused at her gob smacked expression.

"Are you done gaping, or do you want another minute?" He said teasingly, slightly smirking.

"U-Uh… I-…" was all she managed to choke out.

"Very well, then, let's go in." With that, he took her arm to prevent her from staying there ogling the house and pulled her towards the massive door. It was pushed open by two men standing by it. Sasuke addressed them a curt nod and brought Sakura inside.

If she had thought the house looked big form outside, it was nothing compared to the inside. Even Charles-de-Gaulle had seemed simpler and smaller than this house. The ceiling could have been one of a cathedral, for it was almost too high for her to see it properly. A massive staircase led to the first floor, on which a second staircase led to the second floor, and the same thing went for the three other floors.

Tens of doors stood all around the main floor, every one of them probably leading to another part of the house. The white floor was so clean Sakura could see her nearly perfect reflection in it. At the other side of the hall, a huge, transparent door seemed to open on the yard. Sakura couldn't see very clearly, but it did seem there was something green on the other side of that glass door.

A small, sympathetic-looking man approached them. He bowed deeply to Sasuke, then grabbed Sakura's hand and kissed it.

"Welcome to our 'ouse, Mademoiselle," he spoke with a very strong French accent, but in a very soft and gentle voice. "My name eez Benoît, I am ze butler. Let me show you to your room."

He walked up to the staircase, and climbed it up. She followed him suit, judging preferable not to get lost on her first (yet unofficial) day. He led her through two other staircases before stopping on the third floor. Her turned to her and smiled gently.

"This eez ze floor for ze employees' bedrooms. As you can see, zhere are only six doors. Zhere is one for ze Ambassador's secretary," he pointed to the first door to his left. "Zhere is one for me," he pointed to the second door. "One for ze cook," he showed her the third door. "One for both young Masters Uchiha," he pointed to the fourth and fifth doors. "And one for you, Mademoiselle Haruno," he pointed to the last one, the very first to his right.

Sakura approached the door slowly, as if she were scared it might disappear. She put her hand on the doorknob, turned it and pushed the door open. When she saw the inside of the room, she couldn't believe her eyes.

The room was the biggest, prettiest, whitest bedroom she had ever seen. The bed was at least three times as big as her own bed in Japan. The furniture was all made out of dark brown wood. A _real_ chandelier hung from the ceiling. The window was indeed as big as one of the walls of her old room. Soft white curtains hung over it, letting the redish sunlight infiltrate the room. Thicker curtains were tied to the sides of the window. The same curtains hung from a structure over her bed. It did look a little bit too much like a spoiled princess's bedroom, but it was still beautiful.

She ran to the bed and jumped on it. She landed on her back, sinking into the soft thickness of the mattress. She took a closer look at the pillows and found out they were filled with feathers. She sat up and smiled at Benoît.

"This is the most beautiful bedroom I have ever seen in my life! I think I'll like it here," she said, falling back on the mattress again.

"I'm glad you appreciate your new room. Your luggage eez already 'ere. Please change clothes zhen come down in the hall. I shall be waiting for you to take you to ze dining room." He bowed down and retreated from the doorway.

Sakura went to close the door and walked to her suitcases. She took out a pair of black pants (she decided wearing jeans wouldn't look really good if she were to meet the Ambassador) and a short-sleeved shirt that didn't look too indecent. She put on her least torn pair of shoes and walked out of her bedroom.

She climbed down the stairs. As expected, Benoît was there. Not as expected, Sasuke was there too. He simply spared her a glance and walked out by the closest door. Benoît invited her to follow him in the dining room. She obliged, feeling a tinge on her left side. She put her hand on it and walked in after the butler.

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"**Nothing can get you out of this mess, except for a very handsome yet a little bit unpleasant guy, a sweet and kind butler and the most charming secretary. Yep, these are the only people who were present for supper. The Ambassador was out for business. I have to admit, I don't mind. I was kind of scared of meeting him. I mean, I'm going to work for him for I don't know how many years. What if I hadn't made a good first impression?**"

"**Anyway. The other "young Master Uchiha" wasn't there either. He was off with the Ambassador, naturally. So, let me tell you about what I know. Uchiha Sasuke is a very handsome, very poised and very uptight guy who doesn't seem to be older than me. It **makes** me wonder how long he's been working for the Ambassador. Shizune (Idon't know her last name), on her part, is a very sweet lady who is something like 25 years old. She is very talkative, and she talks a lot about the Ambassador's alcohol problems.**"

"**My room is the most amazing I have ever seen! I can't believe it is all for me! Oh, wait, someone's knocking on my door.**"

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"**Apparently, I have a curfew. It is now time for me to leave. Oyasuminasai. Haruno Sakura signing out.**"

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_**A/N: **__WHOO! Was that long to write! Took me two weeks! Anyway, hope you liked it. It is quite long, but at least now, I don't have my "blank page syndrome" anymore._

_Don't worry, Sasuke __**will**__ become more pleasant. _

_I hope I didn't describe too much. I honestly despise fanfiction in which there is too much useless description._

_REVIEW! PLEASE_ _I BEG OF YOU! Tell me what you think! I really want to know. I like nice long reviews that really tell what you think about my story! I hate it when I receive a review that says "i luv it plz update soon". I'm glad you love it, I really am, but don't you have a little bit more than that on your mind after you read it? At least write it properly! "I love it, please update soon." With capitals, punctuation and vowels. It ain't that hard!_

_Thanks._

_Ja!_

_Queen of Pascalities_


	3. First Morning

_**A/N: **__It's always great to have a sister who offers to drive you to school on Friday mornings to get the time to write fanfiction before leaving. I feel like my personal free time is being swallowed by my tenth-grade student schedule. It's horrible! Oh well, I'm still doing my best. _

_Here is the third chapter of this (self-proclaimed) wonderful story! _

_Enjoy!_

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"**You know how, on New Year's Day, you always try to make up some personal rules to follow for the year, but you end up forgetting about them and be just as messy as the year before? It has been proven that it takes eight weeks of constant rule-following to actually stick to it. As if the brain needed some amount of time to register the information.**"

"**That's probably why, as of this first morning in France, I've been put on an eight-week tryout session. That or they don't trust me for doing a good job at whatever a second assistant is supposed to do. But I still think it's to make me used to all the rules. This morning, I woke up at six (mainly from excitement), got dressed and waited for Benoît to come and get me. He should be arriving any min-…**"

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Sakura jumped when she heard a soft knock on the door. That must be Benoît, finally coming to tell her where she ought to go to get breakfast. She walked to the door and opened it. The small smile she had been preparing for the friendly butler faded as soon as she saw who was standing in front of her bedroom door.

It was that unpleasant bloke. Uchiha Sasuke. The only strange thing was that he was smiling. That was something very unfamiliar, yet very heart-warming. She wasn't the type to deny a handsome lad, but still, this _was_ Uchiha Sasuke she was looking (ahem, ogling) at. She forced her face into an unpleased face.

"What do you want?" She asked rather coldly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I upset you in any way? If I did, I'm sorry, and I don't remember" he answered politely, his smile still plastering his face.

"Well, you were kind of a jerk to me yesterday. You frowned the whole way from the airport, you didn't say a word to me during dinner and you didn't even wish me good night like that charming Shizune-san."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you must be mistaking me for my brother Sasuke. He's always like that with girls. I'm Itachi, the "weasel", his older and much more mature brother," he replied, grinning. "I was in Spain yesterday and I only arrived last night. I found myself unable to sleep, so I decided to wait until someone was awake to go and talk."

She slightly ignored his babbling, trying to process the information to her brains. This man, this friendly, smiling man, was Uchiha Sasuke's _brother_? How come the younger one couldn't be as nice as the older? They looked too much alike for one to be adopted, but it was as if they didn't come from the same family.

She looked at him again, trying to find some physical differences between the two of them. She noticed that guy had brown hair, instead of Sasuke's black hair. His was also longer and tied into a low ponytail. She also noticed he had two big lines under his eyes.

"Oh my God, you look dead tired! Are you sure you don't want to sleep?" She asked him, worried.

"Are you asking because you just noticed the lines on my face? They're not circles of tiredness, they're scars," he said quite indifferently.

"Scars!?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah. Happened a few years ago. Bad memory. I don't really want to talk about it." He brushed it off with a wave of his hand.

"Oh. Okay, yeah, I understand." Truthfully, she didn't, and she desperately wanted to know about those scars, but being the ever-so-nice (not) she was, she didn't insist.

"Hey, how about you help me waking that sleepy-head of a brother that I have?" Itachi asked, joyful again.

She instantly thought it was a bad idea. Honestly, the younger Uchiha already hated her, she didn't want it to get any worse. He would probably make anything in his power to make her get fired. It would be a better idea to show him she was mature an sophisticated, just like she had failed to do the day before, and be polite to him so that they could at least work together.

That is why she agreed.

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"One…" Itachi whispered.

"Two…" Sakura whispered.

They got closer to the door, his hand on the knob, both ready to give this bedroom's owner the awakening of his life. They had settled on entering his room, slowly sliding the covers off of his body, opening briskly the curtains and throwing a huge basin of water on him.

They exchanged a mischievous grin, him holding the doorknob, her carrying the basin full of icy water. They were about to open the door and get in when they heard a quiet cough from behind. They slowly turn around, hoping it wasn't who they feared it was.

Fortunately, it wasn't.

"I see you two have already met," said Shizune, a small smile on her face. "May I know what you two are doing this early in the morning in front of Sasuke-san's door?"

"Erm…" Sakura started.

"We just wanted to wake him up," Itachi said, cutting through. "We decided he needed some human contact before he actually became an automaton, hence the bad joke and the early time."

"Oh. Well, what are you going to do exactly?" Shizune asked, looking more curious than outraged.

"We are going to throw this wonderful basin of water on him. If he's too cold hearted, it won't bother him." Itachi was definitely a good brother.

Shizune looked at them suspiciously for a moment. She seemed to be debating whether to turn them in to Benoît or to just let them do their stupid prank. She raised a hand to her chin and slid her eyes to the basin. Now, she seemed to be measuring the value of the stupid prank.

Sakura was getting a little nervous. What if Shizune decided to tell Benoît? Or worse, what if she went and woke Sasuke up? Sakura turned her head towards Itachi. To her great surprise, he was grinning, a confident look on his face, as if he knew what Shizune would do.

Sakura turned her eyes back to the young woman. She had now her eyes closed. She had probably made her decision. Sakura waited for it, trying to convince herself Itachi's confidence was right. Shizune opened her mouth. It seemed to Sakura that everything was in slow motion.

"I'll won't tell Benoît if you let me help," Shizune declared, a wide grin painted on her features.

"Alright," Itachi answered without hesitating. "You will be in charge of opening the curtains. Now, lets count again, shall we? When I say three, I'll open the door and we'll all enter quietly. When you get to the curtains, wait for my signal. When I nod, you will open them as fast and as much as you can. Always be ready to run, though. We don't if my brother is already awake or if he'll wake up while were settling in his room."

Shizune agreed with a nod and took position behind Sakura.

"One…" Sakura said.

"Two…" Shizune said.

Itachi tightened his grip on the doorknob.

"Three!" He said, and opened the door swiftly but quietly.

Sakura brought the basin next to Sasuke's bed and settled it on the floor. Itachi went to the other side of the bed while Shizune ran to the window. Sakura and Itachi started pulling the covers off of Sasuke's body. It wasn't hard, since he always slept on his back. One bad thing, though, he also always slept in only his boxers.

Oh damn.

As soon as they pulled the covers off his chest, Sakura felt a rush of blood climbing to her cheeks. She hadn't realized that Sasuke could have muscles. Anyhow, there they were, all lean but strong-looking, inviting any girl to feel them up. Sakura had a hard time holding herself from doing it. It would look weird in front of his brother.

It wouldn't hurt her to look, though, would it?

Starting from his broad shoulders, Sakura's eyes slid over his whole body, viewing the biceps, the triceps, the chest, the abs (Caramilk-like, hmm) the lower stomach and the V that started at his hipbone and went way down under his boxers. Her cheeks felt like fire and she hoped Itachi nor Shizune could see her monumental blush.

There was the smell too. As soon as she had stepped into Sasuke's room, a strong scent of … manliness. She couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly it was (and she was rather surprise there was something in this world she couldn't recognise by the smell) but it was one of the best scent she had ever been given to sense.

Her head rose to Itachi, waiting for his signal. He signalled her to take the basin and then turned towards Shizune to tell her to open the curtains. As soon as the bright sunlight poured in the room, Sakura turned the basin upside down over Sasuke's body and let the water fall down on him.

----------------------

Everything that followed didn't take more than thirty seconds. Sasuke woke with a start, shouted a "What the Hell!?", turned his head towards his brother, sent him a death glare while Itachi ran to the door, grasping Sakura on the way. As she was pulled towards the bedroom door, Sakura had her eyes locked to Sasuke's. His eyes didn't show any anger or hatred. They were just surprised. As if he couldn't believe Sakura would ever pull a prank on him.

The door closed behind her. Itachi let go of her and burst out laughing. He slapped his knee, tears of laughter in his eyes. He was soon joined by Shizune, who folded in two, holding her stomach. Sakura stared plainly at them, too shocked to react. As if she were having a blank, she couldn't remember what they were laughing about and caught herself thinking they were idiots laughing for nothing.

She just waited until they were finished giggling like hyenas. When they finally stopped, Itachi sent her a rather confused look and Shizune just seemed to wonder why they had stopped laughing. They all stood there, looking at each other, not moving until Benoît joined them.

"Well, I see olmost oll of you are awake. Why eez young master Sasuke-san still een bed?" He asked with his undeniable French accent.

"Erm, well, we were just waiting for him to get out, he just woke up," Itachi explained calmly, although obviously trying not to let out the slightest chuckle.

"Right. Well, you'll just 'ave to ait for 'im in ze keetchen. Shall we?" He replied, clearly not buying to poor excuse.

Sakura still couldn't move. It was only when Shizune took her hand and pulled her along that she seemed to notice she had to walk (unless she wanted Shizune to drag her on the floor and down the stairs). She simply obliged quietly, trying to think about something else than the pain that had shot in her left side while she was looking at Sasuke.

Weird.

----------------------

"Sasuke…"

Grunt.

"Sasuke…"

Grunt.

"Sasuke!"

**Grunt**.

"Sasuke, stop grunting and listen to me!" Itachi exclaimed, irritated at his brother's behaviour.

Sasuke would have obliged, of course, but the mere fact that he was unable to glare at Whatshername (probably something like Hortensia, or another flower name) without having her completely ignoring him was so frustrating that he found himself powerless as to take his eyes off of her. He just had to glare as hard as he could until she felt his gaze make a hole through her back and turned around. He just had to.

For his own sanity and very inflated ego.

"Sasuke, I just wanted to tell you, that prank was my idea. Of course, Sakura agreed, but she would have never done if I hadn't told her about it and if you hadn't been such a jerk to her last night," Itachi continued, oblivious to his brother's internal murder of the poor pink-haired second assistant. "She told me all about it. How could you frown at her when it was her first time out of Japan?"

Grunt.

"Argh, Sasuke, you're such a kid!"

Just when Sasuke thought his brother had let go of the subject, Itachi started to talk again.

"Just do me a favour, please," he said. "Don't hold a grudge against her. Know that she's trying very hard to forget everything right now."

Whoa.

_What!?_

Sasuke's eyes finally left the girl's back and shifted to his brother's face. Had he heard well? She was trying to forget? Why would she do that? And how come Itachi was aware of it?

"Why do you say that?" Sasuke asked.

"I've already seen that expression on a little girl we used to know. Weird enough, though, I can't remember who she was. I can see her face very clearly, but when I focus all my concentration on it, it disappears!"

Sasuke brought his eyes to his cereals. Strangely, he did remember a girl he used to know. He (unfortunately) had no clue of who she could have been. All he could remember were her sobs. It was the most recent memory of her he had. What a great way to remember a girl by.

How she cries.

Sasuke raised his eyes to her back again. He knew perfectly well why he was mad at her. She was a _girl_. Girls around him tended to become his fangirls. He didn't need any more than he already had. That one just seemed too bubbly not to get corrupted, with her pink hair and all. Was it a new fashion sense in Japan? He hadn't been there in years, maybe pink hair had become popular again.

He imagined every singly Japanese girl with pink hair.

Shiver.

Sasuke brushed the thought away and looked more intensely at her. Of course, she didn't look like a fangirl-to-be. She actually looked rather sympathetic, but he couldn't let himself become friendly with a girl. Uh uh. Never. Nevertheless, he took in consideration what his brother told him and decided to oblige to Itachi's demand (for once). He would not hold a grudge on her. But she _would_ have to get used to his silence and indifference.

As if she had noticed he wasn't glaring at her (poor, injured and pierced-through) back, Sakura turned her head towards his. The pain in her left side came back, but this time it didn't hurt as much. It was actually more bearable than it had ever been. She smiled at him, hoping to make him understand she was apologizing for the prank.

He jumped a little at the sight of her smile, but regained a composed expression and addressed her a little nod. Yes, he forgave her, but he didn't intend on letting it go any farther. He actually wouldn't allow it.

For, somehow, he knew what it felt to have his heart broken.

----------------------

" –**minute now. Well, no, I was wrong. It was Uchiha Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. Much, much nicer, if you ask me. But I have learned something about Sasuke. He can be forgiving. I never would have thought that possible. There is also something else bothering me. He is… troubled by something. There is something he doesn't want me or anyone else to find out.**"

"**You know what? I think I'm going to giver myself a resolution for at least the next eight weeks. I am not going to bother, annoy, irritate, torture or do anything unpleasant to Uchiha Sasuke for as long as I want to live and have dignity. After that, if I get to stay, I'll try to become friends with him, if I haven't already done that. If I'm lucky, I might be able to discover this secret he has before next year. Oh well, duty calls. Ja! Haruno Sakura signing out.**"

----------------------

_**A/N:**__ DONE! I hate school. I don't get to do anything! It is the fifth time this WEEK I try to finish this chapter! Oh well, now I don't complain. Another of my duties has been annihilated! I'm going on a four-day weekend, I'm going to get my hair dyed red, and it's Halloween next week! Life can be great. Sometimes._

_So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Tremendously brilliant? Horribly lame? Tell me, I'd be glad to know! Although I don't really appreciate it when people tell me that what I do sucks. Still, review! Review, review, review!_

_REVIEW!_

_**REVIEW!**_

_**REVIEW!**_

_Thanks!_

_Ja!_

_Queen of Pascalities _


	4. The Ambassador

_**A/N : **__Hullo! I'm here! Did you miss me? I feel so bad for not updating during more than three months! I can't believe Christmas is in a week! I still have loads of work to do for school, and I'll be away from home (and from my computer -snif- ) for about the whole Christmas holiday period, but every time I get free, I'll write some more._

_So! Here is the new chapter for _France_, hope you like it. I'm writing it at 1:00 in the morning, but the ideas were written down during this hell of a week, so it shouldn't look too much like the work of a brain-dead tenth-grader._

_Enjoy!_

----------------------

"**Has it ever happened to you to wonder so much about something or someone that when you actually see it, it disappoints you, or on the contrary, you feel like it's more than what you expected? Have you ever anticipated someone you've never seen but somehow famous as being someone all tall and mighty and when you meet that person, he's even more tall and mighty than you thought?**"

"**Try to guess what happened to me today. Yup, you got it. I met the Ambassador, and believe me, that was nothing like I expected. Far from it. But it wasn't the only thing that happened to me on this particularly sucky day. It all started when-…**"

----------------------

"Sakura-san…"

Sakura looked up when she heard her name being called. Shizune was looking at her worriedly, her face scrunched up in a little frown. Sakura sent her a questioning look, wondering what was bothering her so much. Did she unconsciously drop some juice over her shirt, or splatter some jelly on her face?

"Sakura-san, is there something wrong?" Shizune asked.

"No, why?" Sakura replied.

"Well, you seem preoccupied. You haven't listened to a word I was saying, you've been staring at Sasuke for about ten minutes, you're constantly rubbing your side and you're not eating anything."

"Oh, sorry," Sakura said. "I'm just a little tired. I woke up early."

"I know that. Maybe you should go back to sleep. You haven't even laughed when we got out of Sasuke-san's room. You just stared at us like we were complete idiots," Shizune added.

Sakura stared at her for a moment before rising to her feet and walking out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Shizune asked.

"I'm going back to my room," Sakura answered, leaving the room.

"Wait! Sakura, you-…"Shizune exclaimed, cut off by the sound of the door closing. "… don't know how to get to your room."

Shizune stared a the door for a few minutes, almost hoping to see Sakura's head popping in to ask her the way. When she didn't, Shizune leaned back in her chair and sighed.

"Oh well. Hopefully someone will find her before she ends up getting lost."

----------------------

"Damn."

Sakura looked around her, trying to figure out where she was exactly. She had never had a good sense of direction, so finding her way in the Embassy was a nightmare and getting lost in it was something she never wanted to experience again.

She turned around a corner hopefully, only to find a hallway with a closed door at the end. She walked up to it, hoping it would lead her somewhere she was familiar with. She twisted the knob. Yes! Unlocked. She opened it and entered. Or rather exited.

She was in the hall, or atrium or whatever it was called. She was in the place where there were so many staircases leading to places she wasn't even sure she'd be able to see at all in the few months she was sure to be in the Embassy. She turned her head around, trying to locate some sign that would tell her it was the way to her room.

Nothing.

"I hate getting lost."

----------------------

It was about 11:30 when Sasuke spotted her, pacing in the hall, looking more like a stranded wild animal in a shopping mall than a second assistant trying to find her way. She looked extremely pitiful, her face scrunched in a painfully worried expression. Sasuke gave a small sigh and approached her calmly.

She hadn't noticed his presence yet and kept on trying to decipher which staircase would get her somewhere more familiar. He raised a hand and put it on her shoulder. She gave a small yelp and spun around, throwing her hand in his face in surprise. He received the unwanted slap on his right cheek, his eyes wide.

He didn't pay attention to Sakura's gasp and hurried apologies. He was too focused on the stinging in his cheek and the anger he was currently trying to repress. He gave another sigh, closed his eyes and turned his head back in front of himself, facing Sakura. When he opened his eyes, he saw she was looking at him with a worried expression.

"What?" He asked harshly. She jumped again at his sudden talking ability recovery.

"Well, your cheek, it's… Red. Very red. And I think it's swelling up," she answered nonetheless.

He put a hand on his cheek, trying to feel the damages she had done to his face. It was indeed swollen and it still stung. He let his hand drop and glared at her. She seemed to be shrinking under his gaze.

"What are you doing here anyway?" He asked, still sharp.

"Oh! Right, erm… I'm, er, lost, you see, and I was, erm… Trying to find my way back to my, er, room. Could-… Could you help me? P-please?" She added nervously.

"Hn."

He walked past her, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and started to climb up one of the staircases. Not knowing any better than to follow him, Sakura ran up after him. They climbed two flights of stairs before Sasuke turned to his right. Sakura stared at the first she walked in front of for a minute before recognizing it as her bedroom door.

She turned her head towards Sasuke, who was standing two doors down from hers, opening the one that led to his abode. She addressed him a small smile that went unnoticed.

"Thank you," she said hesitantly. He turned his head to her, stared for a moment, judging her with his eyes, then turned back to his door.

"Do not thank me, Pinkie, I didn't do anything for you. My room is almost right next to yours. My brother could have had done the same thing," he answered, not looking at her.

"Well, at least your _brother _would have had the decency to tell me he did it to help me. He probably would have, too. Believe me, it would have been much nicer to have your brother help me," she spat, irritated at his… Well, at his irritating manners.

She sent him a glare, yanked her door opened, then closed, and ran to her bed, letting herself plop down on the ever-so-comfortable mattress. Sasuke was such a jerk, although she couldn't find a better insult for she was mainly concentrated on the pain of her scarthat had been bothering her ever since she had slapped Sasuke in the hall. It had quickly disappeared between breakfast and that specific moment, during the time she was occupied trying to find her way to her room.

Why was her scar bothering her anyway? Usually, it tingled when she was under great stress. Unless she was stressed about her meeting with the Ambassador without knowing, she couldn't find a reason why her scar was reacting. She opened her laptop and put some music on. Viva Rock, Orange Range. Good enough. Not really fitting her mood, but still good. She lay down on her stomach, leaned her head on her folded arms and closed her eyes. This was one thing she liked to do, unlike most of the other girls she knew.

To think.

She started by thinking about the Ambassador. Would he be nice? Would he be strict? Would he like her? Would he fire her? No. Bad idea. Change subject. Shizune. Well, there wasn't much to think about her. She was nice, she was pretty and she obviously had a soft spot for Itachi. Itachi. What a laugh. While they were talking a few hours ago, he had made her laugh more than she had probably laughed in her entire life, and that told something, since she was a very happy person.

If someone wasn't happy, it was Sasuke. Her scar tingled again, but she paid no heed to it. She had never seen someone be so antipathetic to everyone. There wasn't even one person he wasn't an ass to in the entire Embassy. Well, unless he was nice to the cook. He never let any emotion show, except when he was surprised or when he frowned. Otherwise, he always kept his handsome face straight.

Sakura wondered if he had ever been a model. If he hadn't, he sure could be. From what she had seen of it, his body just the type of body a model should have, although his skin was maybe a little too pale. His body. When she had seen it, she had felt some kind of strange… urge to touch it, to… hug it. An urge to hug him. And her side had hurt at that moment too.

Why had it hurt?

Why did it hurt now?

Knock, knock, knock.

Sakura jumped, startled by the noise of somebody knocking (no, duh) on her door. She got up, walked to her door and opened it. Benoît was standing there, his little glasses low on his slightly red nose, his small, blue eyes looking at her over them. His moustache moved, meaning he was going to speak.

"Mademoiselle Haruno, please follow me, I weel lead you to zhee Ambassador," he said with his funny French accent.

She nodded, went back to her bed where she turned off her computer that was currently playing Tsubomi by Maria. She walked back to her door, closed it behind herself and followed Benoît down the stairs.

"Eef you would please try to remember zhe way to zhee Ambassador's office, for you weel 'ave to go back to eet often and wee wouldn't want you to get lost again, would wee, Mademoiselle?" Benoît told her calmly.

"How do you know about that?" Sakura asked him, startled.

"Ma chérie, I am zhee butler. I know everyssing," he answered still as calmly as ever, but turned around and winked at her. Sakura smiled a little, not entirely sure if he was being funny or conspiring.

He led her through stairs and hallways and stairs and hallways again and again until he came to a stop in front of a massive wooden door. He knocked three time, opened the door and pushed his head trough the doorway.

"Mademoiselle Haruno est ici. Dois-je la faire entrer?" he asked the Ambassador in French with stunning speed.

"Oui, faites-la entrer. Merci Benoît," a voice answered with the same ease as Benoît.

Benoît turned to Sakura, stepped aside so she could enter the room, bowed to her and closed the door behind her, leaving her to meet the Ambassador.

----------------------

If there was something Sakura had expected about the Ambassador, it was obviously not that he was a she. Indeed, the Ambassador was a woman. A very beautiful woman at that. She had long blond hair, from what Sakura could see, and stunning brown eyes. The woman addressed a friendly grin and signalled her to come closer.

"Come here, Miss Haruno. Sit down, I want to discuss a few things with you," she said softly with her rather low voice.

Sakura approached the desk behind which the woman was sitting and sat on one of the chairs in front of it. She sent a nervous smile to the Ambassador. _Now_ she was stressed out. Her side hurt, her head spun and her heart beat at an incredible pace. The woman looked at her for a moment, as if she were judging her, then she stood up and walked around her desk to sit on it in front of Sakura. Now was she tall and intimidating.

"So. You are my new second assistant. Well, hello. I'm Tsunade, I'm the Ambassador." She offered a hand to Sakura who shook it and looked back on her desk at some papers. "It says here your name is Sakura. Haruno Sakura, right? What a pretty name. It fits you." She sent Sakura another friendly grin and stood up again.

"So, Miss Sakura, up until now, has your stay been enjoyable?" She asked. Sakura merely nodded, avoiding looking at Tsunade straight in the eyes.

"Ah, Miss Sakura, I'm not stupid, you know. I'm not Ambassador for nothing. I can feel there is something bothering you. Come on, tell me," she calmly hurried Sakura.

Sakura hesitated a little. What if that woman called her a whiny brat if she said how Sasuke had been acting with her? What if she laughed in her face? She looked up to Tsunade's face. She was grinning again and the mere sight of it warmed Sakura's heart, although she was still a little bit nervous.

"Well, the-…" she started.

"Yes?"

"The-the boy called Uchiha Sasuke, he-… Please don't call me a spoiled little princess, but he's been a real jerk to me ever since I got here. He was the one who went to get me at the airport and he was frowning the whole way. He didn't even say welcome to me, he never helps me when I'm having a problem, like this morning I was lost in the Embassy and-…"

"Ahem."

"Oh, sorry, I'm rambling now, am I?" The Ambassador nodded. "Well, anyway, this morning, I helped his brother pull a prank on him, but it seemed like he had forgiven me but now he's just being an ass. I've never seen him being nice to anyone in here, he's not even the slightest polite with his brother!"

"Yes, we've been having a problem with Sasuke-san ever since he got here. Nobody knows exactly what's bothering him, but we do know there is something. Nevertheless, you shouldn't let yourself be bothered by it, as you said, he's like that with everyone. Don't pay attention to it."

"Erm, okay. If you say so."

"Now, there are some things you must know. First, as you saw last night, there is a curfew for everyone on your floor. If you are to travel with me, however, it is your choice to go to sleep anytime you want, although it is also your responsibility to be ready to escort me wherever we have to go at any time." Sakura nodded.

"Also, I have been told you have a laptop with you. You are allowed to use it anytime you want before curfew, but whenever you are called somewhere, you have to stop whatever you're doing at the moment you're called. Also, I will ask you to listen to music on you laptop at a tolerable sound level for it would bother your neighbours if it was too loud."

"We have bells just about anywhere in the Embassy so you can call a butler or a maid to help you. For now, you've only seen Benoît, but we also have Simon, Bertrand and Jean-François. As for the maids, we have Jaqueline, Marie-Hélène, Brigitte, Mérédith, Colette, Cécile, Armande and Yvonne."

"Lastly, you might not want to right now, but whenever you want to call home, we have phones in some places of the Embassy, you can call a butler or a maid to lead you to one. I think that's it. Do you have any questions?" Sakura shook her head.

"Very well. It was nice meeting you, Sakura. You may go, now."

Sakura nodded and exited the office. She wandered aimlessly along the corridors for a moment. The Ambassador was a woman. A woman. And damn could she talk fast. She had just stood there, between Sakura and her desk, saying all that she had to say then sent the girl out. Nothing more, nothing less. She almost scared Sakura, being such an intimidating, mighty-looking person, when she displayed her "friendly" grin.

**Shudder**.

She wondered how she behaved with Sasuke. She had said he had had his smiling disability since he got at the Embassy. Why was he so mean to everyone? Was he a jerk to Tsunade too? How exactly did he behave with her? Sakura wondered if the Ambassador punished Sasuke when he was too much of an asshole. Asshole! That's a good insult!

Uchiha Sasuke the asshole.

**Snort**.

Suddenly aware that she was unaware of where she was, Sakura looked around herself nervously, almost worried, scared she was lost again. She saw she was in the hall of staircases. She couldn't tell if it was a good or a bad thing. She looked around some more, trying to remember which staircase she had taken earlier with Sasuke. Her eyes fell on the glass door just a few staircases away, which she had noticed the first time she had been in the hall. If there was one way to go not to get lost, it was probably behind that door, since, being closer now, she could see it was the way to the gardens.

She almost ran to the door, opened it violently, ran outside, almost tripped down stairs (again. They're practically haunting her) and stopped short at the sight of the "gardens". Because they were not exactly gardens. They were more like… a maze about three times the size of the Plains of Abraham of Québec City in Canada.

Nonetheless, it was beautiful. Vibrantly coloured flowers grew everywhere among the two-meters-tall hedges, cut clean and with precision, perfectly square and three paths had been arranged in between, large enough for two people to walk side to side with ease. From where she was, nearly at the top of the stairs that separated outside from the door, she could see an enormous fountain in the center of the maze directly in front of her. On her right, there was, rather far from her, a tennis court, a golf court and a football field.

On her left, there was a small path that led to a humongous shack that, she assumed, was the garage. Feeling rather uninterested by the garage, she took the path to the football field.

----------------------

Sasuke threw a blue ball with force then watched the animal run to fetch it. This was his favourite time of the day. Free time. The only time where he didn't have anyone to bother him with Ambassador stuff. Even his brother refrained from teasing him, as if he knew Sasuke needed his free time more than anything else. Itachi was somewhere further on the football field, sitting on a bench, reading.

None of them noticed the pink mop moving their way through the maze.

----------------------

When Sakura saw it at first, she thought of how cute the dog was, despite its height. It was a big blond long-haired dog, a Golden Retriever if she wasn't mistaken, that was running after something. She knew what the something was when she received it in the face.

**Thud**.

She fell on her bottom, startled. The blue ball had just hit her (way-too-wide) forehead. She only had the time to pick it up and stand on her feet before the blond dog jumped on her, wagging its tail, its tongue out, panting. Sakura stared at it for a millisecond, still holding the ball, then everything went black.

"Oyabin…"

**Bark**.

----------------------

_The puppy seemed so happy to see her. It ran to her, wagging its tail, its tongue out, panting. It licked her hands, sniffed her shoes, played with the hem of her white dress. She went down on her knees to be at the same level as its cute little furry head with his nose poking at hers, its tongue licking her cheeks._

_She laughed._

_A little boy ran to her, laughing too, calling his puppy._

"_Oyabin! Come here, Oyabin! Come on, look at the ball! You see it, huh, you see it? Fetch!" he told the little dog._

_The puppy ran after the blue ball, caught it, lay down and started chewing on it. The little boy walked up to him, slightly annoyed._

"_Oyabin! You're supposed to bring it back! Come on, give the ball! Give, Oyabin!"_

_She laughed again at the boy's antics._

_He finally got the ball back from the dog. He patted its head, showed it the ball and threw it again. The ball flew threw the, followed by the little blond dog. Sakura stared at the ball as it landed right in front of her. She picked it up, looked at it, then heard the little boy yell something to her._

"_Sakura-chan, throw the ball! Don't keep it! Throw the ball! Run, Sakura, run! Oyabin's gonna run into you! MOVE, SAKURA-CHAN!" _

_He sounded so worried, so scared._

_Sakura raised her head, looking at the boy before she was hit in the stomach. She fell on the ground. She couldn't see anything. Something was hitting her, hurting her, but she couldn't see._

"_Oyabin, NOOOO!"_

_**Scratch**_

"_OOOOWW! OW, IT HURTS! MUMMY! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" She screamed in pain. Something had just stabbed her left side. She could feel the blood oozing out of the gash. Her hands were full of it._

"_SAKURA-CHAAAAAN!"_

_**Thud**_

_The little boy had fallen on his knees right next to her. He was trying to stop the blood. She looked up at him, but she couldn't see his face. Her voice was gone. She tried to reach out for him but she had no strength left. She could barely move her fingers. She felt him take her hands. He held them tight, then leaned over her stomach and laid his head on her._

_She heard the little dog whimper somewhere around her head, then heard the little boy sob on her belly. Reached up to her shoulders, snuggled his head in the crooked of her neck and cried._

"_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't think he'd do that. I'm so, so sorry," He said._

_She wanted to say something. She wanted to speak to him. She wanted to tell him it was okay, it wasn't his fault and she forgave him. But she couldn't. She was too weak, too tired. She managed to turn her head to join his and she made her fingers grip on his shirt._

_Then everything went black._

----------------------

"Sasuke, get her inside! I'll go get someone." Itachi said hurriedly before running inside the Embassy.

Sasuke ran up to the girl, told his dog to sit, kneeled next to her and picked her up. He walked inside calmly, as if he weren't carrying an unconscious girl in his arms and brought her to her room. He laid her down on her bed and went to sit in one of the armchairs next to her desk.

Man, could this girl wreck his fun.

----------------------

Sakura opened her eyes with a start. Where was she? Had she fainted? Did the dog hit her? Bite her? Was she dead? She looked around nervously, trying to figure her surroundings out. She sat on her bed and a wet cloth fell in her lap. She picked it up and stared at it, trying to comprehend what it was doing there.

"You fainted, I brought you up to your room, which is here, and Jean-François put this cloth on your head. Welcome back to the living world, Pinkie."

Startled, Sakura looked on her left. Uchiha Sasuke stood next to her bed, his hands in his pockets, looking at her with an annoyed look doubled with a frown. Sakura felt once more a tingle in her scar. She winced and put a hand on her side.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing, it's… nothing," she lied.

"Uh huh… Well, J-F told me to watch over you until you woke up, so now that you did, I'll leave you. G'night, Pinkie!" He backed out to the door and left.

Sakura left her bed, approached her window, pushed one of the curtains aside and looked outside. It was already dark. She let go of the curtain, took a step back and sighed. Well, might as well got to sleep. She walked back to her bed, changed into her pyjamas, took her laptop and sat on her bed. She turned it on, opened her online journal page and let her hands linger above the keyboard.

It was only then she noticed she was shaking.

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"**So, that's the end of my sucky day! It was weird, actually, that I couldn't remember that boy's name even when I was dreaming. His face, I'm used to not seeing it, but it was the first time I ever tried to say his name in a flashback. Anyway, that's pretty much it. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Oyasuminasai. Haruno Sakura signing out.**"

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_**A/N: **__Oh. My. God. One week. Took me one week! Christmas was yesterday! I can't believe it! Anyway, hope you enjoyed, if you did, leave a review!_

_-Personal-life-flash- _

_I got a PS2, a DDR game and I'm leaving to see one of my best friends ever in one hour! I'm so happy! Although, I won't be able to do much since I'll be gone for three days. But I'll get right down to it the very day I come back!_

_See you soon!_

_Queen of Pascalities._


End file.
